Using a foam roller on the muscles of your back is good. We humans are just like pasta dough. The more we knead and roll ourselves out, the softer and more adaptable we become. (Learn how to make pasta dough with Dr. Lou) The majority of our patients have extremely tight muscles alongside the spine. Typically, the only way for them to make headway on “paraspinal muscle tension” is to get very frequent massages or to do something at home, like use a foam roller on a daily basis. A quick stretch or massage a month is not going to do the trick. Muscle tone doesn’t change that easily, particularly when your daily activities are contributing to the tension in the first place (work, childcare, etc). What does using a foam roller do for you? Using a foam roller improves blood flow to the muscle, tenderizes and loosens the muscle, it improves flexibility and reduces the risk of injury. It only takes a few minutes a day and it may have a profound impact on the health of the muscles of your back. But for the cost of the roller, it’s free. What does using a foam roller potentially...

Is not being able to run because of injury or pain, ruining your quality of life? Running is the chosen exercise for millions of people around the world. It keeps us thin, keeps our minds clear and focused, it keeps our heart and lungs healthy, and without it, we feel ourselves starting to “lose it!” So what do you do if you can’t run? Running requires energy, strength, cardiovascular endurance and structural integrity. The majority of runners have the energy, strength and cardio capacity to get out there. Where running enthusiasts most often fall short is in the “structural integrity” department. What exactly is structural integrity? In a living, moving human, it is the nerves, muscles (and other soft tissue), and skeleton (joints) working in concert with one another. It is this harmonious environment, that the physical stress of running will have the least likelihood of causing longterm damage or injury to the nerves, soft tissue, skeleton and joints. You can have misalignment and damage in the spine, hips, pelvis, knees, ankles and other weight bearing joints without feeling pain. Until the problem gets bad enough to cause pain, you won’t see it coming. Once it hurts, you may...

Dr. Lou’s Weight Loss Challenge Has Died From Complications Of Obesity. A personal message from Dr. Lou. That’s Right, but there’s great news. The three month challenge that has led to hundreds of people losing thousands of pounds is taking a break this year. Over the years we’ve given away thousands of dollars and helped dozens of people take off tremendous weight and keep it off. As otherwise motivated participants became less engaged in the process (Free Classes, Workshops, etc) and subsequently were less successful in the program, I started strategizing better, more effective ways of helping people get in shape. I wanted to continue to use the valuable information and tools we’ve used in the challenge. This has led me back to the most successful plan of action I know. For over 15 years I have been privately coaching people to better fitness and weight loss. One on One attention appears to be what works best for my clients and it allows them to comfortably work through weight loss without the involvement of distracting group meetings and generalized plans. Our program was overweight with options and I’ve decided to slim things down. I will be reinvesting my time...

Belly Fat Guaranteed To Go Away IF You Follow The Rules. Want to lose an inch off your waistline in a few weeks or less? If you follow the rules, there is almost no way that you will not succeed in losing belly fat. In fact, I would argue that it is impossible to fail if you follow these rules. I’ve done it myself, I’ve helped others do it, and it will work for anyone who has “had enough”. Low Carb Diet: No alcohol, no pasta, no sugar. The only carbs you can eat are those in greens. Eat lean meats like fish and chicken. Exercise: Cardio for an hour 4 times a week. 20 minutes of weights or resistance exercises for the large muscle groups 4-5 times a week. What are the large muscle groups? Back, chest, arms, legs. Exercises? Push ups, bicep curls, seated rows, tricep push downs, squats with or without weight. Sleep: Get a lot of sleep. 8 hours a night minimum. Feeding Frequency: Sounds like you’re being treated like a baby? Kind of. Eat small quantities every two hours. Don’t miss a beat. Too much trouble? Don’t lose weight, or exercise more, your choice. Prep meals a couple nights a...

Can I foam roll too much? Is this too much Theracane? Foam rollers and Theracanes (Watch this Theracane video!) are fantastic for tenderizing your muscles, reducing inflammation, reducing adhesions, improving blood flow and promotion of healing. Like with many things, too much is not always a good thing. You can cause tissue damage if you over do it. Typically, there are warning signs of using a foam roller to much or over using the Theracane. Feeling bruised, seeing bruising or experiencing physical weakness in the area is a sign to take a break and give your muscles a chance to heal. Sometimes taking a break will actually speed up the process and get you where you want to be sooner. Making mistakes with foam rolling will potentially lead to more issues. It’s often a bad idea to use a foam roller directly on the injured body part. It’s a bad idea to roll too quickly! Careless rolling is more likely to cause harm. Speed and connective tissue aren’t a good mix, you should roll slowly. Fast rolling doesn’t relax tissue like foam rolling does. With a Theracane, it’s important that you not push too hard, you don’t apply pressure for...

GOLF IS MY LIFE. You wouldn’t risk your “life” because you are lazy would you? As you know, the Maine golf season is short compared to most other states. We have to make the most of it, while it lasts. Don’t be lazy, get in gear now! Business guru Patrick Bet-David says that “If you don’t have time, you either don’t really care or you are lazy.” I know you care about golf and if you can afford to play golf, you aren’t lazy. SO, start preparing now for the best season ever! Back pain, shoulder pain, neck pain, elbow pain, hip pain, knee pain, foot pain all have the potential to ruin your season by affecting golf performance. Tiger woods has the best clubs, the best of everything, he was indeed the best until his back pain (among other things) destroyed his game. Your body matters most. Your brain controls your body’s position, it controls your strength, your reflexes, your perception of where your body is in space, your depth perception, your interpretation of wind currents and a whole lot more. Your brain communicates to the parts of your body that swing the club and provide momentum, through...

Should you get adjusted before or after a workout? The most truthful answer ever recorded. The answer to this and many other questions may be found on Dr. Lou’s Youtube channel. You see, understanding your purpose of the adjustment dictates when to get it. Dr. Lou Jacobs has worked with hundreds of exceptional athletes and has experience with the benefits of timing adjustments appropriately....

The Salubrious Dr. Lou Martial Arts & Chiropractic Martial Arts & Chiropractic go hand in hand. Here’s why. All martial arts are physically and mentally demanding. Focus, speed, flexibility, control, spacial awareness, reflexes, muscle memory, physical resilience and a host of other qualities come in to play. These often simultaneously demanding requirements are all controlled by the brain. The brain is your master controller, the hard drive and server of your human computer network. Control and communication to all cells of the body must be optimally functional for you to get the most out of your body. This is true whether you are practicing MMA, Ju Jitsu, Tae Kwon Do, Jukado, Karate or Aikido. Because of the physical and mental demands and even physical abuse you put your body through to learn a martial art, things get thrown out of whack. When your body gets jarred around, subluxation of the spine often results. Subluxation is a misalignment of the spine that leads to nerve irritation and results in decreased nerve communication. This interference decreases function in the areas that the nerves control. If those areas happen to be your feet, legs, neck, hips, stomach, adrenal glands or other...

Get The Most Out Of CrossFit. You are loving CrossFit but not loving your results. Yeah, you are moving forward, but not as fast as the others. Not fast enough to meet your goals. If results are less than inspiring, you need to ask yourself a few questions. * What controls strength output? * What controls your reflexes? * What controls your focus and response to stimuli? * What controls motivation and action? * What processes your movement, your lifting, pushing, pulling, jumping? If you said “my brain” you are correct. It controls everything and needs to send messages to your body and receive messages from your body quickly and perfectly to get perfect results. Any type of physical exercise that requires mental focus and motivation combined with feats of strength and coordination require fast, accurate nerve communication. Nerves become compressed by inflammation in the muscles, joints and other structures. The nerves to your arms and legs exit from the spine. In fact the nerves going to most of the body exit from the spine. Misalignment, inflammation and compression of nerves where they exit the spine, interferes with optimal communication and impedes...

Is Football Child Abuse? Knowing but allowing them to play anyway… With the Superbowl next weekend and an article in the January 31 issue of Rolling Stone Magazine, I thought today would be a good day to discuss child abuse. Wikipedia defines child abuse as “The physical, sexual or emotional mistreatment or neglect of a child or children.” The CDC and DCF define child maltreatment as “any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or other caregiver that results in harm, potential for harm or threat of harm to a child.” A new study on football shows permanent brain damage in teens who had never even had a concussion. Dr. Robert Cantu, chair of neurosurgery at Emerson Hospital and co-director of the Center for Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy (CSTE) and the the nation’s leading authority on concussions says “There’s an epidemic of kids whose normal trajectory is permanently stunted by head injury.” My question to ponder is this. If you know now while your kid is playing football that the risk of playing the game is exceptionally high for permanent, even potentially life threatening injury to the brain, is...